The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) is taking aim at a lack of operational funding as part of a new advertising campaign. The STF says funding for Saskatchewan students hasn’t kept up with historical norms or inflation and has declined $1,438 per student between the 2015-2016 and 2025-2026 school years. “Because of government underfunding, student successes are becoming harder and harder to achieve,” said STF president Samantha Becotte. “We’re seeing larger class sizes, increasing classroom complexity, more diverse student needs and a shortfall of specialized professional supports.” As part of the ad campaign, the STF says the decline in per-student funding has made it difficult for the needs of all students to be met. Becotte said educational psychologists, speech language pathologists and occupational therapists are in scarce supply because of the lack of funding. “Being able to reduce those wait times and increase access to the professional supports is critical to a student being able to have their needs met in their public education,” she said. In 2015-2016, per-student funding was approximately $10,600. When adjusted for inflation, that number rises to roughly $13,600. Per-student funding in the 2026-27 school year was just over $12,100. The STF says it used provincial operating funding, enrolment data and Statistics Canada inflation data to arrive at the $1,438 difference but did not provide exact calculations. The Ministry of Education calls the STF’s calculations an “interpretation.” “While the STF is presenting its interpretation of education funding data, government has increased investments in education and continues to make investments in Saskatchewan classrooms,” read the ministry’s statement. “Our focus remains on ensuring students receive the supports they need and that school divisions have the resources required to deliver a high-quality education.” The province says for the 2026-2027 school year, operating funding has increased to $2.5 billion. The province says average per-student funding has increased to $13,185, an increase of more than $400 from the previous school year. Over the past three years, the province has increased school operating funding by approximately 20 per cent. Becotte says gains were made after the most recent round of collective bargaining, where a contract was awarded via binding arbitration following multiple years of negotiations. “We have made progress, but we need to keep working together,” Becotte said. “Parents, students, teachers, government and school divisions, so that our kids get the quality public education that they deserve.” As part of the new advertising campaign, the STF has an online tool where an individual school division or city can be searched to find the overall calculated impact of $1,438 per student.
